Shredded cheese, or cheese in the form of elongated shreds or other shapes, is commonly used as a food topping, such as a pizza topping, etc. Sliced cheese is commonly used in making sandwiches or for use as a snack, such as in a Lunchables® package. Automated conversion of bulk pieces of cheese, such as blocks or loaves, into shreds or slices as part of a continuous operation is technologically challenging. Commercially-available equipment for automated shredding or slicing of cheese in high volumes is scarce.
Cheeses, such as mozzarella, that may be relatively elastic in loaf or brick form at ambient conditions can be particularly difficult to form directly into shreds of substantially uniform dimensions. Milling has been used as one way to convert mozzarella loaf into shreds. However, the elasticity of the mozzarella cheese can make milling type shredding difficult to practice. Depending on the process set-up, mozzarella cheese loaves and bricks may be stored under refrigerated conditions until subjected to subsequent shredding operations. The chilled cheese tends to toughen, making it even more difficult to shred into shred-like pieces or strands of substantially uniform size. Mozzarella cheese loaf has been heated to a molten condition in an extruder, and then discharged under compressive force through circular die holes of a die plate to form cheese strings, which are cooled in a brine solution. The cheese extrudates are cooled immediately upon extrusion before they deform, stick together, and/or otherwise lose the discrete elongated shape imparted by the extruder die. The conversion of the cheese to molten form and post-extrusion brine treatment increase process complexity and cost.
There also is a demand for low fat mozzarella cheeses in particular, which tend to have higher moisture content than the full fat counterpart products. At higher moisture content, some cheeses, such as mozzarella cheese, tend to become softer, making it even more difficult to shred the cheese using conventional shredding techniques.
In addition, some cheeses may be sliced instead of shredded. The cheese slices can be produced in bulk ribbon pieces which are then cut into slices by using wires to cut the ribbon into sheets and subsequently into slices. The cheese slices cut in this manner tends to stick together and the slices may be required to be separated from other slice stacks by hand.
Whether sliced or shredded, the bulk cheese can be portioned and deposited into food packaging. A pick and place method has been used to put the cheese slices or shreds into the food packaging. This method can be expensive on a large scale. Moreover, the more the sliced or shredded cheese is handled, the greater the likelihood that the cheese will stick together.
There is a need for arrangements for forming cheese loaf, blocks or pieces directly into stable elongated shreds or slices, and particularly chilled high moisture content cheese loaf, in an automated, non-manual manner without the need to heat process the cheese. As will become apparent from the descriptions that follow, the invention addresses these needs as well as providing other advantages and benefits.